Our two week reading festival, Bookmarked!, was a huge success and lots of fun for all of us, ending with an entertaining and inspiring weekend with author Judith Viorst. To see photos from Ms. Viorst's reading event at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh, as well as other reading events throughout the Triangle, click here.
The kick-off of Bookmarked!, Lucy's Book Club's two week long festival of reading is right around the corner! Join us at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh this Saturday, May 22, at 10:00 AM, for our first public reading event. Our guest reader at this event will be Lucy Daniels!
Quail Ridge Books is also hosting a book fair featuring all 44 of the Lucy's Book Club books from the 2009-2010 booklists. The book fair will run from May 22 through June 6, 2010.
This is an excellent time to purchase your own copies or copies for gifts and benefit the Lucy Daniels Center's Family Support Fund at the same time.
Twenty percent of total book sale receipts will go to the Lucy Daniels Center's Family Support Fund. This fund makes up the gap between what families receiving services at the Center can afford to pay and the actual cost of providing services.
Click here for a reading event near you!
Lucy's Book Club's fourth topic, Becoming a big brother or big sister, is available now! You may view and print the current booklist and bookmark from our website, or you can visit your local Wake County Public Library or other Lucy's Book Club partners for your free bookmark. All ten books, plus the parent selection, are on display at the Lucy Daniels Center.
Check back soon for posts related to this topic! If you have a specific question, please contact us.
Have you heard about our upcoming community event? Take a look under the tab Bookmarked! Event for all of the current details about this exciting two week long series of events. There will be multiple opportunities for you and your child to attend a free Lucy's Book Club reading beginning May 22nd, including a reading by our special guest, author Judith Viorst, at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh on Saturday, June 5th, at 10:00 a.m.
Bookmarked! A celebration of reading with children will feature a Lucy’s Book Club book fair at Quail Ridge Books in Raleigh and two weeks of free celebrity heroes readings for young children and their parents at venues across Wake County, culminating in a special fundraising event, An Evening with Judith Viorst, acclaimed author and poet, on Sunday, June 6.
More details to come! In the meantime, take a look at the information we have posted online.
One way to encourage creative and imaginative thinking is to help children find ways to expand story topics beyond the pages of a book. When ideas can be transferred from one experience (e.g., reading a story) to another (e.g., a real life experience) they become more meaningful. A child's ability to link abstract ideas to concrete experiences is an important part of early childhood cognitive development as well as the development of higher thinking and reasoning.
With the arrival of spring, many children and families begin to spend more time outside. The book, It Looked Like Spilt Milk by Charles G. Shaw, is a collection of simple white shapes that all turn out to be a cloud in the sky. This book can easily be extended to an outside activity. What do the clouds in the sky look like to you? With a notebook and pencil in hand, you and your child can venture out and make your own version of a book like It Looked Like Spilt Milk. Encourage your child to look hard and think creatively to see different objects in the shapes of the clouds. If your child is up for the task, have him draw or paint the shapes. Other possibilities include cutting out abstract shapes of white paper or felt and gluing them onto a piece of paper or into a notebook. Add labels (either child-written or dictated to you by your child) to the pictures to complete the book.
If you and your child create your own version of It Looked Like Spilt Milk, feel free to send a copy to us for the possibility of being featured on our website! The first family to respond will receive a copy of It Looked Like Spilt Milk. Happy cloud watching!
Send your submissions to jreid@lucydanielscenter.org.
Click here for additional tips on reading together with young children.
Our current booklist, Imagine that!, features books that encourage and inspire imagination in early childhood. The following article, Developing a Child's Imagination Skills, discusses some of the reasons why imagination is such an important part of early childhood:
"[R]esearch has shown that children who have an active imagination and use it well tend to:
The article also discusses how reading plays an important role in the development of imagination skills:
"Reading and developing a long-term appetite for books is one of the best ways of generating a child’s imagination skills. Picture books are great for early learners, helping both language, vocabulary and reading skills, as well as fuelling their imagination. When you’re first developing an interest in books, choose picture books that are colourful, fun and interactive.
Make use of the services at your local library to introduce your toddler to a wide range of different books and try out a range of topics. You’re likely to soon find favourites that he’ll want to hear over and over again."
Read the full article here: Early Childhood Education: Developing a child's imagination skills
For our complete list of recommended books that stimulate the mind and encourage imagination, please click here.
Our third booklist is called Imagine that! We have selected books that encourage and inspire imaginative thinking and pretend play, important parts of early childhood development. Take a look at the books we have chosen here:
http://lucysbookclub.org/page/download-booklists
You may also print a bookmark from our website. Or, go to your local Wake County public library (or any other of our project partners) to pick up a free bookmark. A complete list of our project partners can be found here:
Today's post is written by kindergarten teacher and panel member, Christa Love.
Have you read The Kissing Hand by Audrey Penn to your child yet? If not, I would highly suggest you head to the library or to your local bookstore such as Quail Ridge Books and get a copy! It’s a book that appeals to all young children, but especially ones who are going through a tough time of letting Mommy or Daddy go. Chester the raccoon is such a cute and friendly character with whom children can easily identify. It might be fun for you and your child to act out the story using a homemade or store bought raccoon. Take turns with your child, you be the Mommy and your child be Chester and switch roles if you like. Many children feel most comfortable talking about their worries through a prop such as a puppet because it allows them a safe distance to express themselves. It’s a book that you can come back to time and time again with your young child.
This post is written by teacher and panel member, Jennifer Murphy. For more information about the Lucy's Book Club panel members, please visit the Review Panel page.
Reading a book with your child can open up doors of communication, communication that is often difficult to make time for with the hustle and bustle of everyday life. Carve some quality time out of your week for your child, especially with the stress that often comes with the end of the year, and read a book together from our current book list, Feeling strong on my own. See what conversations come up between you and your child about how they feel on their own or apart from you. You can show your interest in your child’s thoughts and feelings by pausing and asking them questions about the story and characters as you read. For example, while reading Owl Babies, ask your child which owl he or she identifies with most. This might open up a conversation about being apart or missing you that may not have come up otherwise.
For more information about communicating with your child(ren), take a look at the article Building Strong Parent-Child Communication.
